Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: Carolina-Hurricanes

I have a scenario running through my head that makes a lot of sense. It hasn’t happened yet, but that doesn’t mean it won’t. Picture this- Carolina, after a third straight loss, decided to make a change behind the bench (this hasn’t happened yet). They bring in a whip cracker (how about Bob Hartley). Then Laviolette, who has a firm but more friendly approach, goes to Tampa where they’ve been beaten up by Torts and Melrose.

He has no memory of the hit. As for the game itself, there are only a few remaining images but nothing specific. Carolina center Brandon Sutter was knocked unconscious by a crushing Doug Weight hit on October 25, suffering a concussion.

He returned to action for Wednesday’s loss to Washington, sooner than many expected following the hit that sent him to the hospital. But there was no doubt, his head clear and the headaches gone, that it was time.

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“I started practicing with no contact and I felt fine,” Sutter told sportingnews.com. “That was my cue that I was ready to go. I was anxious, I feel like I was back 100 percent.”

TSN has learned that Carolina Hurricanes’ general manager Jim Rutherford was formally offered the dual position as president and GM of the Leafs in August of 2007, at which time John Ferguson Jr. was still in place as the GM of the team.

Sources close to the MLSE board told TSN that the Leafs went through a prolonged dialogue with Rutherford that started in August of 2007 when the Leafs requested and were granted permission from Carolina owner Peter Karmanos to talk to Rutherford, the Toronto-area native.

The rookie forward was activated from injured reserve on Wednesday after missing the past eight games with a concussion.

He suffered the injury on Oct. 25 when Islanders forward Doug Weight caught him with his head down while skating through the neutral zone — a legal hit that renewed the debate about headshots in the NHL.

Cam Ward was trying out new headgear at today’s morning skate, our first morning skate of the season. Here are some photos of the new mask, which includes some of the North Carolina themes of his past masks, along with a new twist… An evil stare from the movie “Cape Fear”.

As far as comebacks go, Carolina Hurricanes’ Dan LaCouture is pulling a major victory from deep in the jaws of defeat.

And it has little to do with hockey. The 31-year-old is salvaging his life.

Caught in an ugly downward spiral of alcohol and depression the last few years, Lacouture was on his way to losing everything—his career, his wife and newborn daughter and everything he ever held dear.

Devils coach Brent Sutter said his son, Brandon, is “improving” after the Carolina Hurricanes rookie center suffered a concussion and lost consciousness on a hit by the Islanders on Saturday night….

Brandon Sutter spent Sunday night at his father’s condo in New Jersey after being released from North Shore Hospital on Long Island earlier in the day. Brent Sutter said he spent Saturday night at the hospital with Brandon, who was held overnight in intensive care.

Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that center Brandon Sutter suffered a concussion in the Hurricanes’ game on Saturday at the New York Islanders. Sutter, 19, has been discharged from a Long Island hospital and will return to Raleigh where he will be further reviewed by the Hurricanes’ medical staff later this week.

Rutherford also announced that Carolina defenseman Joni Pitkanen suffered a torn meniscus during Saturday’s game. Dr. Marty Isbell will perform surgery this week at Rex Hospital in Raleigh to repair Pitkanen’s knee. Pitkanen, 25, is expected to miss three to four weeks of action.

The IIHF Disciplinary Committee is reviewing a report that was received on 21st October 2008, which outlines that player Matt Murley, 28, (home IIHF member national association USA Hockey) has played without a valid IIHF International Transfer Card (ITC) for the Russian club Amur Khabarovsk.

The IIHF Disciplinary Committee has informed the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia, the Hockey Club Amur Khabarovsk and the player, Matt Murley, that the committee has opened an investigation with regards to this matter.

Amur Khabarovsk is participating in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) of Russia, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia (FHR).

As Stu Hackel at the NY Times Slap Shot blog notes, Murley is still under contract to the Carolina Hurricanes, and as recently as October 15th the KHL’s President Alexander Medvedev stated that Murley was not yet cleared to play in their league. Nonetheless, Hackel points to a Russian stats site that indicates Murley has played in four games thus far.